[Bonus Plugin] Explorer Software

[moggy2]

Name: Explorer Software
Version: 1.5
Date: 10.10.2006
Scripter: moggy2


Overview:
The Explorer Software was developed by Teladi Scientists as a tool for charting new, unexplored sectors without the need for expensive crewed vessels. The commands provided by this software were designed to be used by a team of scientists to remotely control a probe, as it explored new sectors of space, from the safety of their research labs.

Commands Summary:

Fly Through gate...

- This command allows you to specify a gate to fly through. In difference to the fly to sector command, this allows you to fly through gates where the destination sector has not previously been visited.

Explore Sector...

- This command causes the ship to fly in circles round the sector, revealing stations, gates and asteroids as they pass within scanner range.
- To use the command you select a central point around which to explore, set a maximum range from that point to explore and set a "ecliptic variance".
- This can be used to reveal a new sector or to locate a hard to find gate.

Scan Asteroids

- This command will scan asteroids in the sector.
- Select the first asteroid to scan, then set the maximum number of asteroids to scan.

Details:
The explore sector command flys a square around the central point. This is only 2-dimensional, parallel to the ecliptic plane of the sector. The additional input of "ecliptic variance" allows a random fluctuation within the 3rd dimention between points, allowing you to scan a slightly larger area. Values for this are typically between 0 and 10.

If the explorer ship has a pilot, ie the pilot's name is something other than the player's name, the Fly through gate command functions slightly differently. Once it has flown through the gate it will immediately go on to scan the sector from the center out to a range of 40km.

[dazzoefc77]

Nice addition.....could have done with this earlier . Might tempt me to start a new game.

[jlehtone]

I do have a plan to name the first Hyperion from the production line as "Huygens", stuff it with satellites and send it to scan some rocks and to replace casualties.

It will still take quite a while, before I know if my plan actually works. There is always plan 9 ...

[nils@ihug.com.au]

Where can i pick up this software? - at a teladi trading station?

[bob hope]

if its the same as it always has been it will be in Teladi Equipment Docks

[Vanel]

I put this on a arrow once and it screwed it all up. The arrow would just flying circles in the center of the sector LOL. It the arrow compatible with this sript? Thanks. Great script

[moggy2]

it may be too fast to hit the waypoints. It's the same thing that happens to ships trying to collect wares.

[Teabreak]

Great piece of software . A few things:

1. I noticed it wasn't availalbe at the Teladi Space Equiptment Dock in Ministry of Finance - Bug or feature?
2. Often I just want the ship to scan all asteroids in a sector rather then have a maximum. Can I just type a huge maximum and it will notify me when all asteroids are scanned? Even better would just be a simple "Scan all asteroids in Sector..." option.
3. It would be nice if you could set several sectors in a list and the ship visits each one and scans all the asteroids in them. Because an M5 can scan a single sector pretty quickly and you have to keep reassigning it new sectors to scan.

Thanks again

[moggy2]

1. check back later to see if it gets a supply of them
2. entering 999 should scan all the asteroids in a sector. I don't think there's a sector with more than that.
3. if there was a way of entering an undetermined number of sectors as a list, a lot of scripts would be much simpler.

[dostillevi]

sounds like there is a need for a linked list utility script... such a thing doesn't exist right now?

[moggy2]

that's how arrays work in the script editor, but it doesn't solve the interface problem of getting the list from the pilot at run time.

[jlehtone]

Minor "issue".

Took Hyperion.
Added Fight 1&2, Nav Comm, Special, Trading Extensions, Best Buy/Sell, Jumpdrive, the standard stuff. And Explorer Software.

Realized there is no MTC commands so added Trade Mk1&2 as well. Still no MTC. Shrugged that off as M7-related and did send the M7 to scan Mines of Fortune.

Btw, I think no sector has over 200 asteroids.

Anyway, the "issue":

The Navigation menu of the ship had no "Standby" command any more.
Plenty of other commands (BP 3.1.05 added 'Jump to me' and 'Jump to home'), but no "Standby".

I told the ship to eject Trade Mk1 and Mk2 (because they were of no use anyway). After that, the ship has the "Standby" again.

So how come the Trade Softwares affect the Navigation menu? It is rather harmless, but hopefully has no evil side-effects?

[jagji56]

I got this in the new bones pack, and I think it is a great script. I grabbed a Boron M5 just to equip this piece of software to. I do have one suggestion to make this better: Put a command in to allow the ship to explore a sector, and then explore, say, the other sectors with in 1, or 2 jumps.

[Saint-Ashley]

What if the player sends their ship to explore 'Eighteen Billion'? Then I guess they just lost their ship in Xenon Sector 347?

[jlehtone]

Another question. Told Hyperion to scan asteroids. It did. Some. And when the command completes, I find the ship docked at a NPC station.

Why does it do that (dock when done)?